Destruction of Evidence - Ohio's 2004 Presidential Ballots

Cuyahoga County, population 1.3 million, was unable to determine how many unvoted ballots it had in its possession. It took records for “ballots ordered” for 2004 and subtracted the total ballots cast, assuming the difference was sufficient instead of actually counting the unused ballots.

From Cuyahoga County transmission to Ohio Secretary of State,
April 17, 2007. Collection of Letters and Reports, (p. 222)

The unused ballots are of grave importance for Cuyahoga. The county was the site of a wide range of election problems. One would think they’d want to explain why they needed 1,135,265 ballots for 1,007,187 registered voters when turnout is rarely exceeds 60%. That’s a lot of extra ballots floating around in a county that produced a “rigged” presidential recount. There were several other counties with large quantities of extra ballots.

Cuyahoga County acting elections director Jane Platten was so concerned about the state of the ballots delivered that she amended her certification statement to the Secretary of State.

Statement of Jill Platten, April 17, 2007
Full Collection of Letters and Reports, (p. 223)

Platten wrote in an email regarding the issue on April 17, 2007: “I did not know the chain of custody and storage of those ballots since the November 2004 election. None of the persons responsible for those ballots … work at the BOE any longer.” (Full Collection, p. 225) Did those persons cease to exist altogether? Surely they could have been reached by phone, paid a visit, or asked for a sworn statement or deposition. Was any such effort made? Apparently not.

Platten had no doubt seen this report on the board’s activities dated January 17, 2007, three months before her amended certification above. The Center for Election Integrity at Cleveland State University did a study of the board and reported the following:

The key system as currently structured permits any one staff member, or even a contractor or consultant, to gain unauthorized an unsupervised access to voted and unvoted ballots, memory cards holding votes, and other sensitive materials. Structuring the key access in these ways may violate Ohio statues an SOS directives that required “sealed containers.” E.G. OCR SS 3501.27 (protections for recounts). We raised this problem with several Ballot Department managers and Administrator Irizarry, who expressed interest in resolving it.

Center for Election Integrity, Cleveland State University, January 17, 2007, (p. 7)

This finding is presented as an understatement when it should be a headline. The essence of the gross security lapse in Cuyahoga is obvious: just about anyone associated with the board could have gained access to the 2004 ballots. Both ballot security and chain of custody were compromised. How would anyone know that the ballots delivered to the Secretary of State were the actual 2004 ballots with so many people allowed unsupervised access over time? Inefficiency and poor record keeping on the part of public officials trump the search for justice.

What regard do you have for ballots when you fail to produce them and then don’t even bother to explain why? Fifteen counties never bothered to explain their failure to obey federal law and a federal court order. For those who wrote letters, why not simply say “we’re very sorry to report…” or “we deeply regret to inform you?” How many expressed regrets? There were only two or three by my count.

Did any of those who had already destroyed ballots by the time of Judge Marbley’s order bother to write the Secretary of State explaining that fact when they received the order? If not, why not? Did any of those who had already destroyed ballots after the 22 month federal retention period but prior to the request for delivery in April 2007 bother to report this to the Secretary of State? If not, why not?

Reaction by Ohio’s Secretary of State and Attorney General

Both Attorney General Dann and Secretary of State Brunner made clear promises to pursue 2004 election fraud investigations during their campaigns. Their words on this subject are well documented. Once elected and faced with the massive destruction of evidence from the 2004 election, they may have experienced an inadvertent memory lapse.

2006 general election winner, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D), was quick to respond to the destruction of evidence. The Cincinnati Enquirer of August 11, 2007 reported Brunner’s remarks: “If I had evidence of a cover-up, I would investigate. For me, the bigger question in 2004 was how many people were prevented from voting (something) you can’t quantify?” Attorney General Marc Dann (D), also elected in 2006, responded quickly by seconding Brunner’s position. So much for campaign promises.

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